CCat
Purrplexity
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join:2005-12-06
Wonderland
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2 edits | Gas Water Heater Question
About 3 days ago I went to turn on the hot water and it was only warm. The pilot was out. I relit the pilot and turned on the burner.
It was good up until tonight, again no hot water. I relit it again and fired the main burner. The tank is heating now.
Does this sound like the thermo coupling is going bad?
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Ken
Premium,MVM
join:2003-06-16
Brownsburg, IN
| How old is the heater? Let me give you another theory as to what could be wrong. Newer heaters have metal mesh screen that air has to pass through to get into the sealed combustion chamber. This screen can clog up easy with lint or other stuff. Once that happens, the flame can't get enough air to stay lit. So if it's a newer heater check how dirty things are. |
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Waterbug
join:2008-03-30 | reply to CCat
A bad thermocouple will not cause the pilot to go out. There should be a small screw to adjust the pilot flame. If you can find nothing else wrong, try increasing it just a little. |
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tp0d
yabbazooie
Premium
join:2001-02-13
Carnegie, PA
clubs:
 ·Verizon FIOS
2 edits | 
control in question |
if this is the case, call the manufacturer
-j
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bemis
join:2008-07-18
Stoneham, MA
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2 edits | said by tp0d  :If the tank is less than 2yrs old, you could have a defective control. There is a production run of controls that have exactly the problem you describe. It is made by robert shaw, with a red pilot button on the top left, and black or red larger control knobs. if this is the case, call the manufacturer -j tp0d's picture looks exactly like my water heater--except that I also have a control on the gas line to activate a power vent.
If you have a power outage--even just 10-20 seconds--it can cause the gas supply to be cut and the pilot to go out.
We have a clock radio that we intentionally leave w/ no 9V battery so that it will flash 12:00 for even the smallest power interruption, that way I'll know I have to go manually re-light the pilot.
Do you have a similar power vented setup? If so, is it possible that don't typically have power failures, but in the last few days you've had two small ones?
Also--I should check to see if my control is one of the ones affected! We've had 1-2 occasions where the pilot was out w/o an apparent power failure  |
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3SGTE
ST215W
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join:2000-11-23
there
clubs:
| reply to Waterbug
said by Waterbug :A bad thermocouple will not cause the pilot to go out. Sure it will. The purpose of a thermocouple is to shut the gas off if the pilot goes out.
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CCat
Purrplexity
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join:2005-12-06
Wonderland
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| reply to CCat
Im sorry, I should have mentioned that the WH is an old Whirlpool installed in 95 but other than this new issue it seems to be in good shape.
Theres no power vent... also prior to this if the power did go out the WH would still work.
As of this morning its still working. I probably will just try replacing the thermo couple and see if that fixes it, if not I'll probably just replace the WH seeing that its 14 yrs old.
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nunya
SEE ROCK CITY 475 MILES
Premium,MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO
clubs: | reply to CCat
See 3SGTE post above. If the pilot TC is out, it may be a cheap fix.
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mattmag
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-04-09
NW Illinois
clubs:
·Mediacom
| reply to Waterbug
said by Waterbug :A bad thermocouple will not cause the pilot to go out. Totally wrong. Obviously, you've never tried to light a pilot on a furnace or water heater with a bad one, have you? |
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CCat
Purrplexity
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join:2005-12-06
Wonderland
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| reply to nunya
@ nunya @ 3SGTE Thats the way Im going to go and see what happens.
@ mattmag...Totally agree.
Thanks all for the input, much appreciated.
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8744675
join:2000-10-10
Decatur, GA
| reply to CCat
It sounds like the thermocouple. If the tip is very black and coated with carbon, scraping off the carbon with razor blade or lightly sanding it may give it a little more life. The carbon can prevent the pilot flame from heating up the metal tip hot enough to keep the gas valve open. Cleaning it off helps....for a while, long enough so you can get a new one and replace it on your own schedule. |
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CCat
Purrplexity
Premium
join:2005-12-06
Wonderland | Good tip...Thanks |
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Lyserjic
join:2002-07-02
Deer Park, TX
| reply to CCat
Years ago I had a gas water heater with a severe mineral deposit buildup in the bottom of the tank. The tank made awful banging and thumping sounds while it heated up, and then the burners and pilot would shut down due to overheating.
I was young and financially challenged at the time, so it took a few months before I could replace it.
said by CCat :About 3 days ago I went to turn on the hot water and it was only warm. The pilot was out. I relit the pilot and turned on the burner. It was good up until tonight, again no hot water. I relit it again and fired the main burner. The tank is heating now. Does this sound like the thermo coupling is going bad? |
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CCat
Purrplexity
Premium
join:2005-12-06
Wonderland | Thanks...That is a distinct possibility.
I'll clean the thermo couple and blow out the tank.
See if I can buy some more time.
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i1me2ao
Premium
join:2001-03-03
TEXAS
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| i did the above and managed to get two more months before i finally had to replace control unit. after draining and removing the build up was so bad i could not remove it with sander.
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CCat
Purrplexity
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| Upon further inspection it looks like the unit has seen better days.
Ill probably be replacing it tomorrow.
Things always seem to break over the holidays. 
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Bobcat
Premium
join:2001-02-04
Bedminster, NJ | reply to CCat
Could be a loose connection, too. |
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CCat
Purrplexity
Premium
join:2005-12-06
Wonderland | Checked all connections nothing loose.
Im sure its just dying from old age. |
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EG
The wings of love
Premium
join:2006-11-18
Union, NJ
| reply to CCat
I once had such a tiny water leak at the bottom of the tank of an only 3 year old unit. The droplets were enough to quench the pilot.
I observed and confirmed this leak by watching the lowest measuring amount/fastest moving gauge on my water meter. If I turned off the feeder valve to the heater, the movement of the gauge would stop. |
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jack b
Gone Fishing
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Cape Cod
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| reply to CCat
said by CCat :Im sorry, I should have mentioned that the WH is an old Whirlpool installed in 95 .....I'll probably just replace the WH seeing that its 14 yrs old. Good move. You're on borrowed time with that tank, anyway.
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